The Haines Borough Planning Commission is recommending the assembly vote to prohibit motorized recreation – including ATVs and snowmachines – along roughly 9,000 feet of Chilkat River beaches.
The stretch of beach is along Mud Bay Road, stretching from River Road to Carr’s Cove.
The assembly will take up the commission’s recommended ordinance at its Tuesday meeting.
Commission chair Rob Goldberg drafted an ordinance banning motorized use in the Chilkat River beaches recreational zone after area residents became aware using ATVs on the beach isn’t technically illegal, even though it’s traditionally been used for walking dogs and other non-motorized activities.
Beachfront resident Heather Lende said at a previous commission meeting neighborhood residents were fine with the informal policy prohibiting motorized use until they saw a recent police report that a complainant was told that riding a four-wheeler on the beach was not illegal.
Troopers and police said they have no legal authority to issue citations for riding ATVs along the beach, because the non-motorized “rule” is not codified. When residents call to complain about ATVs riding recklessly up and down the beach or doing donuts in the tide pools, their hands are tied, they said.
The ordinance recommended by the planning commission would change that, if passed by the assembly.
The commission voted 4-1 on Oct. 10 to recommend the assembly adopt the ordinance. Commissioner Donnie Turner was opposed. Commissioners Rob Miller and Danny Gonce were absent.
Nearly a dozen beachfront residents and users turned out at the meeting to advocate for the ordinance, including Cheri Hutchins, who said in addition to ruining the beach aesthetically, ATV use also causes long-term damage to plants and wildlife.
“I have walked along the beach and seen tracks ground into the earth. They are still there, and they’re above the tide line… You can see scars on the land. The land does not repair from that,” she said.
Other speakers commented on the incompatibility between pedestrian and ATV use, as well as the sound and echo produced by motorized use on the beach.
Beachfront resident Chip Lende reiterated the point of several speakers who said the ordinance is not an attempt to strip ATV users of their rights. “The best way to protect (ATV user) rights is to eliminate the conflicts. There are a lot of people who feel passionately about this beach, and by protecting the beach, they’ll feel very confident that ATVs have their place in the borough.”
Commissioner Turner, the sole vote against recommending the ordinance, said in addition to his concern about ATVs being banned from the area, he was also alarmed the ordinance would prohibit snowmachining there in winter.
Turner called the ordinance “a slippery slope” toward motorized recreationists losing their rights, and warned Haines would become like Juneau if it allowed this sort of legislative creep.
“I just hate seeing public areas being designated to one user or the other… This is just the start. (Lende) says it’s one little small area, but it’s just the start of people blocking off areas. You only have to look south to realize they can close the whole thing down.”
“It’s not going to make a huge deal not to use it, but it’s just the start of the slippery slope,” he added.
The top of the Mount Ripinsky trail is the only place in the borough currently closed to motorized recreation.
Goldberg said he’d also ask the Parks and Recreation Committee to weigh in on the issue.